An arrest was made and a man was charged with kidnapping and assaulting his ex-girlfriend at a pit stop in rural Tennessee.
A woman threatened by an ex-boyfriend alerted staff at the Twice Daily convenience store in Bon Aqua she needed help. The unidentified Hickman County woman reportedly used a hand signal learned on TikTok that signifies someone is in need of help.
Johnathon Smith, 31, also of Hickman County, has been charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated domestic assault, according to the Tennessean report.
Her ex-boyfriend picked her up at her brother’s house, according to Lt. Mike Doddo of the Hickman County Sheriff’s Department.
The woman was visiting her brother when her ex-boyfriend arrived. She then got into a truck with Smith, according to Doddo. The Tennessean explains, the two travelled east on Highway 100 and “got into a physical altercation” in the truck.
“The girlfriend then asked to be let out,” Doddo noted, adding, “He said, ‘No.’”
“(Smith) then threatened to kill her by grabbing a screwdriver and telling her, if he couldn’t have her, nobody could have her,” according to the report.
They stopped at the Twice Daily gas station at Highways 100 and 46, around 1 p.m, and they both went inside. While in the store, the woman reportedly “put her palm forward and tucked her thumb in, and closed her four fingers over it.” Doddo said she showed that gesture to a cashier, according to the report. “The clerk repeated the gesture back and the woman nodded, yes, he said.”
The staff called 911, according to the report, adding that once “Smith began checking out, the cashier stalled, saying something was wrong with the register, Doddo explained.” Smith appeared to catch on that something was up and he escorted his ex-girlfriend back to the truck.
A Hickman County Sheriff’s Office corporal reportedly pulled into the gas station as their truck was leaving and followed them.
Doddo reportedly said a 10-15 minute pursuit with speeds approaching 90 miles per hour ensued. The chase ended in neighboring Dickson County when Smith veered off Bear Valley Road and crashed into a creek when a “foot pursuit ensued until Smith was captured, according to Doddo.”
The woman was unhurt, Doddo reported.
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